Norway's Sirenia has issued the following update about canceling all previously scheduled Australian tour dates:

"Due to circumstances beyond Sirenia's control the Australia tour with Paradise Lost has been canceled. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused and hope to be back at a later occasion."

Just Say Rock productions also issued the following statement about the cancellation:

"Regrettably, Just Say Rock Productions has had to announce the cancellation of the Paradise Lost and Sirenia tour to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for April 2010. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to ticket holders. For a full refund of your ticket, please take it back to your point of purchase."

Norwegian gothic metallers Sirenia have announced they will perform at the “kRock u Maibutnye" festival, which takes place on May 21st and 22nd in Kherson, Ukraine. Sirenia also have the following upcoming tour dates:

Norwegian gothic metallers Sirenia have announced that their previously scheduled Australian February tour dates have been postponed. The dates have already been rescheduled and will be occuring as follows:

Brisbane Saturday 24th April Hi FiSydney on Monday 26th April Metro TheatreMelbourne on Tuesday 27th April Billboard The Venue

Melbourne’s Ne Obliviscaris are still in the studio working on their debut album, but to make the wait a little bit easier they’ve just uploaded a new recording video. Like their last one, it covers some of the bass guitar recording and gives you some hints as to what to expect on the album. You can view the latest video below.

The band has recently finished recording all of the guitars, with the vocals and violin still to come.

In other band news, Ne Obliviscaris scored the support slot for next years Paradise Lost tour and will be their first live show since July. You catch the band at the following shows:

U.K. gothic metallers Paradise Lost have announced a string of upcoming tour dates in Australia, with support coming from female fronted metal act Sirenia. The currently confirmed dates are as follows:

Metalunderground.com is proud to sponsor this weekend's Femme Metal Festival, a new UK festival that showcases female fronted metal/rock/gothic music. The festival is held in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK. This year's event is the first of what is to be an annual festival.

The festival is a two-day event, taking place on November 7th and 8th at different venues in Birmingham and London, respectively, and features some excellent female fronted and all female bands in metal, including up and comers Delain, Sirenia, hAND, Soulgrind, Winter In Eden, and more. Here are the details and respective line-ups:

November 7th at The Asylum in Birmingham38-43 Hampton Street,Hockley,BirminghamB19 3LSTel: 0121 233 1109

Tickets are available only from the Femme Metal Store. Price per ticket per day is £12.50 + 50p for recorded delivery.

In the weeks leading up to the festival, Beth, our dedicated U.K. correspondent, has been interviewing the bands on the roster. You can check out our extensive coverage here and expect more interviews and coverage from the Saturday show as well.

Leaves' Eyes will be embarking on the "Beauty and the Beast" tour in November alongside Atrocity, Elis, Stream of Passion, and Sirenia. Leaves' Eyes issued the following statement about the tour:

"The preparations for the Beauty and the Beast Tour are in full swing and we all are looking forward to finally start the tour. It will be very exciting for us to perform the vehemence and energy of the new songs from 'Njord' for the very first time. These songs are fun to play and demand full concentration and power from the whole band. Some songs are real beasts according to the title for this tour, haha. Of course there will be well known songs in the set list such as 'Farewell Proud Men' but we also want to focus on the 'Njord' songs. Our premiere for the new show will be in a few days, on the 31.11.2009 in Triora/Italy! ELIS are old friends of us and together with SIRENIA and STREAM OF PASSION, people can expect an opulent spectacle with this tour package. Let the games begin!"

Atrocity also commented on the upcoming tour: "We are all looking forward to this tour, which is a great opportunity to see us performing a pure WERK 80 show. Of course there's dancers and we will be playing songs from both WERK 80 albums! It's a real pity that Alla cannot be with us and we all wish her the best to recover as soon as possible! We also gonna meet many friends on this very interesting, international Festival package! How often do you have the opportunity to watch LEAVES' EYES, ATROCITY, SIRENIA, ELIS and STREAM OF PASSION live on stage in one single night? So don't miss this BEAUTY & THE BEAST festival, see you on tour hopefully soon!"

Due to a huge demand to move the second day of the Femme Metal Festival to a more accessible location, it is now going to be held in The Peel in Kingston, London on Sunday, November 8, 2009 (same date and line-up, new venue). The venue is smaller than the previous one, but given the location makes it much more accessible. You can find out more about the venue on their website.

Sirenia has issued the following announcement about recruiting Roland Navratil on drums for their upcoming tour dates:

"As Jonathan became a father recently, he has decided to take some time off with his family. So for the Beauty and the Beast tour in November Roland Navratil from Dignity will step in as a session drummer. It is not the first time we work with Roland, as he also replaced Jonathan on our European tour back in 2004/2005. We are looking forward to work with him again, and we would like to wish Jonathan the best of luck and some great time with his family."

Leaves' Eyes has issued the following update about a venue change at the Leipzig stop of their "Beauty and the Beast" tour:

"Attention, there’s a small change regarding the venue in Leipzig, the new location is HELLRAISER! So here’s the billing and venues once again: BEAUTY & THE BEAST Festival Tour 2009. Special guests: ATROCITY (Werk 80 Show), SIRENIA, ELIS, STREAM OF PASSION."

Rock the Nation announces the first run of the new festival tour series called Beauty and the Beast Festival, featuring Leaves' Eyes, Atrocity, Sirenia, Elis and Stream of Passion. Tour dates are as follows:

Romania's forthcoming metal festival, Rock City Open Air, appears to have either cancelled or postponed. A message from black metal legends Mayhem reads as follows:

"Unfortunately, Mayhem will not perform in Romania next week as the whole festival has been canceled (or apparently postponed). We are deeply sorry for the fans who wanted to see us performing there. This is of course totally out of our control.

"A statement regarding the reason of the cancellation should be posted on the festival's MySpace page soon."

This news come after the recent news that Immortal, Blood Red Throne, Macbeth and Trail Of Tears have all pulled out of the event. The festival was scheduled to be held from August 20-23rd in Fetesti, Romania.

Sirenia has issued the following statement about canceling their appearance at the Metal Female Voices Festival:

"Due to irregulations done in the booking procedure of the show at Metal Female Voices Fest, Sirenia's show at this specific festival will be canceled. The band itself has nothing to do with this mishap, and we sadly regret this inconvenience for all our fans. We are determined to make this up to you with one or more shows in the same region at some later point. We will keep you posted!"

Norwegian/Spanish gothic metal band Sirenia has just issued the following behind-the-scenes video of "The Path to Decay," which is their latest single, with commentary by the band and the director, Patric Ullaeus. The video is shown below. More...